Kentucky; Truck dangling from bridge

[Jersey mike]

Did anyone catch the video and news of this yesterday? The scene was like something out of a movie that unfolded on the Clark Memorial Bridge in Louisville.

If you haven’t seen it, here’s YouTube with a choice of video sources. It was truly amazing they could rescue the driver and the whole rig didn’t fall into the river.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=kentucky+bridge+truck+rescue



This is a news report from a local (I think) news agency.

https://www.whas11.com/article/traffic/semi-truck-hanging-off-2nd-street-bridge-between-louisville-southern-indiana/417-9de80e4a-cc06-4268-8cea-706c68a6140a

[carolinarider09]

Yes I saw it on the news yesterday.   I think I wondering how it happened and then is the bridge going to be closed while hey evaluate its condition.

[old2soon]

     Those First Responders made it look easy and it WAS NOT EASY! The truck trailer are connected by the kingpin and fifth wheel assembly. Those 2 pieces of metal Are The ONLY thing keeping the semi tractor from the river. When you hook up to a trailer part of the pretrip is MAKING SURE the fifth wheel is LOCKED onto the Kingpin. Day or night you MUST go under the trailer just behind the trucks Rear axle and LOOK and Make SURE the fifth wheel Is Locked CORRECTLY Around the king pin. I ALWAYS rechecked that fifth wheel if I've only been away from the truck for a couple of minutes like a bladder drain! Some drivers carry a hate for other companies and have been known to pull the pin fer ya!  You could also set the trailer brakes with truck brakes off and back up against the pin to make SURE it's Still LOCKED. The Driver in this instance I M O her Guardian Angels were with her when needed most!  RIDE SAFE.

[Jersey mike]

From what I heard it started as a multi car accident and this driver was try to avoid it.

How that whole rig didn’t end up in the river is amazing. I wonder if they were even able to get a harness on the driver or if she just climbed on him and hung on for dear life. To top it off they got the whole thing back on the bridge without incident.

[Rams]

From what I heard it started as a multi car accident and this driver was try to avoid it.

How that whole rig didn’t end up in the river is amazing. I wonder if they were even able to get a harness on the driver or if she just climbed on him and hung on for dear life. To top it off they got the whole thing back on the bridge without incident.

My son is a firefighter/paramedic, these guys train for all kinds of rescues and this kind of rescue is one of them.  The firefighter that was on the sling was harnessed in and brought another harness with him that he put on the driver.   Heard he is a 3 year vet of the FD, 27 years old and highly regarded due to his dedication to the job.   

The real danger in this rescue was the possibility of the trailer breaking free of the bridge bracing holding it or that king pin snapping during the rescue attempt.   Had either event occurred, it's likely both the driver and the fireman would have perished in the attempt to save the driver.   Huge cranes were brought in to secure and then lift and retrieve the truck and trailer.

Video of the crash did show a multiple vehicle accident the truck driver was attemping to avoid.

Rams